Beef Up Your Bike

The South Dakota Cattlewomen ventured out west during the Sturgis Rally to interact with rally goers about the different beef issues and to reassure them that beef is still a healthy and great tasting choice. The cattlewomen setup a booth on August 3rd at the Stone House Saloon, 7 miles west of Belle Fourche on highway 34. The location and atmosphere ended up being a perfect spot for us because we where out in the middle of a pasture next to a windmill in a relaxed setting where we could literally sit down and visit with and discuss issues the rally goers may have about beef.
While the rally goers visited the booth we asked them questions off our questioner. I was very pleased how receptive they were to answer the questions. After answering the questions they where given either a $5.00 Beef Certificate or a Meat Thermometer. The questions we asked was: 1. What State are you from? 2. How often do you eat beef at home or dining out? 3. Why do you or don’t you choose beef? 4. What is your greatest concern about beef products? 5. What resources do you find most useful when you have questions regarding beef?
After tallying up our results we found out we reached 42 different states and 4 different countries. Beef was usually eating 2-3 times a week by the majority of the rally goers. And the reason they chose beef was because of the taste. Food safety was the main concern followed by cattle care. Luckily only 56 use the media to learn more about beef while the majority uses labels and cookbooks when they have questions regarding beef. From this survey we handed out all 200 meat thermometers and 200 beef certificates which as of September 1st almost half of the certificates have been redeemed.
Overall the South Dakota Cattlewomen in only three days reached probably over 7500 people mostly beef consumers but also around 35 beef producers from other states. After this event we came away feeling that the consumers are still confident in beef and don’t believe all the negative things being said out there about beef. We also were surprised by the number of producers we ran into but were happy to have them complement us on using the check-off dollar in this way.
This project wouldn’t have been a success without Marilyn and Frank Dobesh for planning and producing the beef jerky. Plus to the various cattlewomen (Julie Holmquist, Janet Fenenga, Kay Abbott, Lisa Dorschner, and Kodi Blotsky), Stockgrowers (Joan W.) and other local volunteers for working at the booth and walking through the crowd handing out jerky and promoting and informing everyone the great things about beef.
And lastly the most important thank you goes to the Beef Industry Council for their contribution for this project. The South Dakota Cattlewomen feels that this event was a worthy way of using the check-off dollar and hope to continue this type of project in the future.